Car door



May 22, 1934.

A. CHRlSTIANSON CAR DOOR Filed Aug. 12 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 22, 1934. A. CHRlSTlANSON CAR DOOR Filed Aug. 12, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 22, 19340 A. CHRISTIANSON CAR DOOR Filed Aug. 12 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR DOOR

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Application August 12,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to freight car doors, and in particular to improvements in the construction of doors for refrigerator cars and to novel means for moving the doors to open and closed positions.

One object of this invention is to provide a steel door for a refrigerator car having removable resilient insulating members thereon forming an airtight seal with the door opening when in closed position.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved means for attaching insulating members to the door for a refrigerator car so that the same may be readily removed and replaced.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means for moving the door of a refrigerator car into open and closed positions, and for securing the same in the door opening so as to form an airtight seal therebetween.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a steel door for a refrigerator car which is relatively cheap to manufacture, relatively light in weight, relatively easy to operate, and which will increase the efliciency of the car.

These and other objects which will be made readily apparent to those skilled in this particular art are accomplished by means of this invention, one embodiment of which is described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein;

Figure 1 is a partial view in side elevation of a refrigerator car having a door constructed in accordance with my invention and illustrated in its closed position.

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken on line II-II of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken on line III-- III of Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is a view in section taken on line IV. IV of Figure 1, the solid lines showing the door in its open position and the dotted lines in its closed position.

Fig. 5 is a view in section on line V-V of Figure 1, the door being shown in outline for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the latch-keeper employed in locking the door.

Fig. 7 is a view in section taken on line VII- VII of Figure 1.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view in elevation showing the door locking means and the operating means for opening and closing the door.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view in section of the door insulating members; and

1931, Serial No. 556,501

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view in section showing the means for securing the door sealing members to the door.

In the several figures of the drawings like reference characters refer to like parts of the structure.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 10 designates the side wall of a refrigerator car having a door 7, opening 12 formed therein which is closed by a door 14 of the top suspension type. The mounting of the door on the car and the operation thereof will hereinafter be explained. The door 14, which may be made of steel or any other suitable material, has an outer wall 16 and an inner wall 18 which are spaced apart and secured at the top, bottom and sides to nailing strips 20. Disposed between the outer wall 16 and the inner wall 18 are members 22 which form the insulation for the door and prevent heat from being transferred therethrough. The members 22 may be formed of any suitable insulating material such as the well known insulating paper. The inner edges of the nailing strips 20 along the top, sides and bottom of the door are cut away so as to form troughs or grooves 24 around the inner edge of the door. The edges of the door are protected by members 26 which are placed over the nailing strips 20 and secured to the outer wall 16 and the inner wall 18. The members 26 are shaped to conform to the contour of the nailing strips 20. I

In order to form an airtight seal between the door 14 and the sides of the door opening 12, resilient or flexible members 28, which may be formed of rubber hose or other suitable material, are disposed in the troughs or grooves 24 along the top, bottom and sides of the door. The members 28 are of such size that when the door is closed, the members will be slightly compressed thereby effectively sealing the door.

So that the resilient or sealing member 28 may be removed from the grooves 24, I secure the same therein by means of a covering member 30, made from some suitable material, such as canvas or the like, which encloses the sealing members 28. A portion 34 of each of the covering members 30 extends through a slot 32 in each of the members 26 into a pocket 36 formed in the nailing strips 20. A rod 38 inserted through each of the portions 34 of the covering members 30 extending. into the pockets 36 securely fastens the resilient sealing members 28 to the door.

To provide an effective seal at the corners of into the pocket at the bottom of the door.

the door, the sealing members 28 may be connected together or formed from a single length of hose extending around the edges of the door and mounted in the grooves 24. With such a length of hose the rods 38 which extend through the portions of the securing members 30 projecting into the pockets 36 are of such length and are mounted in the pockets in such a manner that each rod is locked in position therein. To eifectively lock the rods 38 in the pockets, I, prefer to form the rod extending through the pocket at the top of the door of such length that it extends the full length thereof but does not extend into the vertical pockets along each side of the door.

After the rod has been inserted through that portion of the covering member 30 which extends into the pocket 36 along the top of the door, rods are inserted through those portions of the covering members projecting into the vertical pockets along the side of the door. These side rods are of such length that the upper ends thereof extend beyond the ends of the top retaining rod and prevent it from being removed and the lower ends of these rods are positioned slightly above the horizontal pocket along the bottom of the door.

When the side rods are in place, a rod is inserted through the covering member extending This rod is of such length that when positioned in the pocket it supports the lower ends of the vertical side rods holding them in their respective pockets. The weight of the side rods bearing on the ends of the rod in the bottom pocket of the door together with the resiliency of the sealing member, effectively holds the last-mentioned rod in place whereby the sealing member or members are securely held in position in the grooves 24 of the door.

From this construction it is apparent that the scaling members not only form an effective seal along the top, sides and bottom of the door but also effectively seal the corners of the door, since when a single member is employed, it is bent at right angles at each corner of the door, and when separate sealing members are used they are so disposed in the grooves 24 that the ends thereof abut against each other at each corner of the door.

It is also apparent that since the rods 38 may be readily withdrawn from their respective pockets, the sealing member or members may be readily removed thereby making it easy to replace worn out sealing members.

The door 14 is suspended from a track 40 which is mounted in brackets 42 secured to the side of the car above the door opening 12. The track is spaced from the side of the car and is of inverted U-shape in section. The legs of the track are bent inwardly so as to form grooves 44 for receiving rollers 46 of carriages 48 and 50. Gooseneck members 52 and 54 pivoted to the carriages 48 and 50, respectively,

. and to brackets 56 and 58 which are secured to 'ie top of the door, support the door on the car.

The door 14 when closed has its outer wall 16 flush with the side wall 10. Therefore, in order to open the door it must first be moved outward- 1y until it clears the side of the car, when it may be moved along the track 40 until the door opening 12 is clear. The mechanism for moving the door 14 out of the door opening 12 consists of pinion segments 60 and 62 secured to the goosenecks 52 and 54, respectively, which mesh with a rack bar 64 slidably mounted on the door and extending crosswise thereof. The rack bar 64 also meshes with a pinion segment 66 secured to a vertically extending tubular member 68 which is mounted inbrackets 70 secured to the outer wall 16 of the door 14. The tubular member 68 has an operating handle or lever '72 secured thereto.

When it is desired to open or close the door, the lever 72 is operated, which turns the member 68 and moves the rack bar 64 laterally of the door and turns the gooseneck members 52 and 54 causing the same to swing the door suspended therefrom into and out of the door opening 12.

To force the door into the door opening so that the members 28 will be compressed and effectively seal the door when the door is closed, a vertically extending locking bar 74 is provided which has eccentrics 76 on the ends thereof for engaging latch-keepers '78 mounted on the upper and lower door headers of the car. The latch-keepers 78 have fingers 80 which extend outwardly therefrom and which engage the eccentrics 76 on the ends of the locking bar and force the door inwardly when the locking bar '74 is turned. The locking bar 74 extends through the tubular member 68 and has an operating handle or lever 82 secured thereto. The lever 82 has a lug 84 projecting therefrom which extends over the lever '72 of the door opening mechanism. The lug 84 may be employed as a means for sealing or looking the door so as to make the car burglar proof.

When the door is in its closed position the locking members and the door moving mechanism are in the position shown in Figure 1. To open the door, the lever 82 is pulled outwardly away from the door which turns the locking bar 74 and moves the eccentrics 76 out of engagement with the latch-keepers '78. The lever '72 is then pulled outwardly which turns the tubular member 68 and causes the rack bar 64 to 'iOVE relative to the door. The movement of the rack bar turns the gooseneck members 52 and 54 and causes them to swing outwardly I away from the side of the car and move the door out of the door opening 12 into the position shown in Figure 4, so that the door lies in a plane parallel to the side 10 of the car.

When the door has been moved out of the door opening it may be pushed along the side of the car so that free access may be had to the interior of the car through the door opening 12. To close the door the above operation is reversed.

From the foregoing description it is readily apparent that I have designed a steel refrigerator car door which has removable resilient sealing members around the edges thereof, and which may be readily moved into and out of its closed position, and when in its closed position, forms an airtight seal with the sides of the car so that no leakage can occur therearound. It is also apparent that the resilient sealing members may be readily removed and replaced, when the same becomes worn, without taking the car out of service.

It is to be understood that while I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, certain modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The combination with a refrigerator car having a door opening in the side thereof, of a door for closing and sealing said opening having the edges thereof cut away to form troughs along the top, bottom, and sides thereof, pockets in said door parallel to said troughs and having slotted communication therewith, a resilient sealing member disposed in each trough, a cover for each of said resilient members having a 

